----------------
BEFORE MAJOR BUSH/SNOW ECONOMIC ADDRESSES, SCHUMER UNVEILS NEW REPORT ON WHY REGULAR PEOPLE QUESTION THE REAL STATE OF THE ECONOMY
New Report Suggests Not-So-Rosy Economic Picture Under Bush Administration
Today, Sen. Chuck Schumer, a member of the Senate Democratic leadership and Senate Finance and Banking Committees, released a report on the economy to respond in advance to a major speech by President Bush tomorrow in Chicago on the economy and another speech today by Treasury Secretary John Snow at 3:30pm at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the state of the economy. Tomorrow other administration figures will fan out across the country to give addresses on the economy as well. In conjunction with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Schumer released a report on why regular people question the state of the economy.
Schumer said, “What we have here is the very definition of a middle class squeeze -- college tuition is way up; heating prices are at record levels; and health care and prescription drug prices are through the roof.”
“For the Administration to be out there saying things are great shows just how out of touch they are with the average American. If they don’t come to grips with the economic reality many Americans face everyday, they will not be able to offer real solutions to strengthen the economy,” Schumer concluded.
-----------------
Schumer offering economic analysis is like Jeff Foxworthy offering caviar reviews. Neither has any understanding of the subject matter.
---------------
yet he is US senate:
In 2004, New Yorkers re-elected U.S. Senator Charles E. “Chuck” Schumer to represent the State of New York in the U.S. Senate for a second-six year term. Chuck started off his second term by being appointed to the Democratic Leadership team by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Chuck also earned a seat on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the nation’s tax, trade, social security and health care legislation. Chuck also sits on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; the Judiciary Committee; and the Rules Committee. He is the Ranking Member of the Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee and the Economic Policy Subcommittee. Prior to his election to the Senate, Chuck represented the Ninth Congressional District in Brooklyn and Queens for eighteen years. Before that, he represented the Forty-Fifth Assembly District in Brooklyn for six years.
For the past two and a half decades, Chuck Schumer has been a leader on national issues and a tireless fighter for New York. For his efforts, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle called Chuck "an accomplished, far-sighted legislator," while The New York Times wrote that Chuck "is a more serious lawmaker with more rooted values, sounder policy positions and a deeper commitment to the common good."
Serving three terms in the New York State Assembly, Chuck worked vigorously for his Brooklyn constituents. He sponsored legislation to protect local cemeteries from vandalism and passed laws limiting noise pollution by banning motorcycles from residential streets between 9 pm and 8 am. He was a staunch affordable housing advocate, and sponsored legislation that increased penalties for arson in houses of worship.
Throughout his 20 years in Congress, Chuck has been a pioneer in the fight against crime. His work in this area led Attorney General Janet Reno, the nation's top law enforcer, to state, "I have never met a public official more dedicated to fighting crime than Mr. Schumer."
In 1994, Chuck authored the Omnibus Crime Bill, which put 100,000 new policemen on the street, enforced the "three strikes and you're out" sentencing, and created after school programs for troubled teens. As of August 2000, the Crime Bill's COPS program had put 11,461 new officers on New York's streets.
Chuck was a leading sponsor of the Brady Bill, which instituted mandatory background checks for handgun purchases. Chuck co-wrote the Assault Weapons Ban, which outlawed the manufacture and importation of 19 types of semi-automatic weapons, including the Uzi, AK-47 and Tec-9. He also sponsored both the Hate Crimes Statistics Act and Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which organized data on crimes of bigotry and allowed federal authorities to prosecute these crimes. In 1992, Chuck authored the Anti-Auto Theft Act, which required car manufacturers to mark often-stolen vehicle parts with an indelible ID number. Chuck won the first federal funding for Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester to implement Project Exile, a program that enforces strict sentencing guidelines for illegal gun possession. Chuck also sponsored legislation in the Senate that provided $125 million in funding for rape kit testing and $100 million for the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners program to help law enforcement identify, arrest and convict perpetrators of sexual assaults.
In addition to his record on crime, Chuck has been a tireless advocate for women' rights. He is the author of the landmark Violence Against Women Act, which was the first federal legislation protecting women against domestic abuse. As Chair of the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice, Chuck passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and made blockading the entrances to family clinics a federal crime.
Since his election to the Senate, Chuck has made improving New York's economy his top priority. He has been particularly successful in bringing affordable air service to Upstate New York, helping deliver new airline Jet Blue to Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse and working with low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines to expand service to Albany and Western New York. His Group of 35 developed a comprehensive plan to address New York City's long-term economic needs by adding 60,000 new square feet of desperately needed office space to accommodate 300,000 new jobs projected over the next twenty years.
Chuck also established an Economic Development Initiative (EDI), a comprehensive effort to attract new businesses and financial resources to Upstate New York. As part of EDI, Chuck has held business roundtables throughout the state, organizing meetings between economic development officials and business leaders in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse during his first year in office. Later he toured the state with the site selectors who help businesses decide where to locate offices and factories, and sent a brochure promoting Upstate's merits to CEO's in New York City.
Chuck is the author of legislation that would eliminate many of the barriers that delay low-cost generic medications from coming to the marketplace. Chuck's bill would save consumers 60% when they choose a generic drug over the name brand by the third year the generic alternative is on the market. Chuck is also the author of legislation that would create an electronic national organ registry that would immediately link donors and recipients nationwide. Chuck has also written bi-partisan legislation to stabilize the Medicare + Choice program to help correct funding disparities that have caused over 1.6 million Americans, many of them senior citizens, to lose their HMO coverage.
Improving access to quality education is another of Chuck's long-term priorities. He led the charge in Congress to make college tuition tax deductible, and for the first time in history, parents will be able to deduct a portion of their children's tuition. Chuck has developed a "Marshall Plan for Teachers," which would provide a series of incentives to attract the best and brightest to teaching, and successfully authored several amendments to the Education bill which would double funding for recruiting and retaining math and science teachers.
Chuck, as the Ranking Member of the Administrative Oversight and the Courts subcommittee, plays a key role in judicial nominations. He held hearings in June 2001 to examine the role of judicial ideology in the judicial confirmation process. Chuck is the author of bipartisan legislation to allow federal trials to be televised and also of legislation that would modernize the nation's voting system by providing guidance, expertise and $3.5 billion in grants to states and localities to upgrade their voting equipment. Chuck was also a strong supporter of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation.
A member of the Banking committee in the House and the Senate, Chuck worked for a decade to pass the 1999 Financial Services Modernization legislation, which modernizes regulations governing the US banking, securities and insurance industries. He played a key role in drafting language to ensure that financial companies serve traditionally underserved areas and has exposed unequal lending practices of banks and predatory lending practices of subprime lenders in minority communities. Chuck is currently the Ranking Member of the Banking committee's Economic Policy subcommittee.
In 2005, Chuck was appointed to the Finance committee and the Finance subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight. Occupying a seat once occupied by his former colleague, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Chuck now leads the fight against the privatization of Social Security and to ensure the solvency of the program through a bipartisan solution. He is working to maintain Medicaid funding for our seniors and to prevent a tax-hike for middle-class Americans by maintaining the deductibility of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns. Chuck is concerned about the growing trade deficit with China and co-sponsored a bill that will help U.S. businesses by forcing China to adhere to its WTO obligations.
Chuck has also had a powerful effect on a wide-ranging number of issues, including:
• Consumers: The "Schumer Box," enacted in 1988, requires that credit card companies clearly inform consumers of their terms.
• Immigration: Chuck forged an agreement in 1986 that resulted in an overhaul of the immigration system. He is also the author of pending legislation that would crack down on fraudulent immigration consultants.
• AIDS: Chuck authored the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS Law.
• Israel: Chuck is a staunch advocate for our Middle East ally and has been a leader in bringing restitution to Holocaust survivors and their families.
• Terrorism: Chuck was one of the authors of the 1996 Antiterrorism Act. He successful fought to maintain the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, which maintains sanctions on rogue states, and demanded the State Department stop omitting Palestinian terrorists from its website offering rewards and information for the capture of those suspected of killing American citizens.
Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, Chuck has worked tirelessly to help New York recover and rebuild. On September 13, Chuck, along with Senator Clinton, secured a commitment from President Bush to provide $20 billion in federal funding to help New York pay for recovery and relief efforts. Chuck also helped create the federal Victims Compensation Fund, which helps the families of those lost on September 11 or anyone physically injured in the attack continue with their lives by providing the family with all of the money the person killed or injured would have earned over his or her lifetime, all within five months of filing the claim. Chuck and Senator Clinton also successfully lobbied for $5 billion in aid for New York in the economic stimulus package pending before the Senate.
In addition, Chuck:
• Helped broker a compromise between Senate Democrats and the Bush Administration to support the antiterrorism bill.
• Helped write new laws cracking down on money laundering.
• Wrote legislation providing federal terrorism reinsurance to make it easier for private companies to obtain insurance.
• Worked on legislation that would make terrorist hoaxes a federal crime.
• Fought for funding to strengthen security at New York's northern border with Canada.
• Successfully convinced HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to use the availability of the generic version of Cipro to lower the price the federal government pays for the antibotic, saving the taxpayers over $100 million.
• Wrote legislation with Senator Clinton allowing the FBI to share information with local law enforcement agencies like the NYPD.
• Asked the USDA to conduct a full security assessment of the Plum Island Animal Disease Research Laboratory on Long Island and asked the NRC and Homeland Security to assess security risks for all of New York's nuclear facilities.
• Nominated Father Mychal Judge, the fallen New York Fire Department Chaplain, for the US Medal of Freedom.
• Worked with the US Embassy in Santo Domingo to expedite visa approvals for families of the victims of American Airlines Flight 587.
• Obtained liability protection for New York City and the Port Authority in the airport security bill.
• Fought for increased funding to enhance rail and Amtrak security.
• Fought for increased funding for port security.
• Called for a national sales tax holiday to boost consumer spending.
A product of the Brooklyn public schools, Chuck, who was born on November 23, 1950, is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He was elected to the New York State Assembly at age 23 -- making him one of the youngest members since Theodore Roosevelt -- and to Congress at 29. In 1998, Chuck became New York's junior Senator, and he now holds the senior position. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Iris Weinshall, and their daughters, Jessica and Alison.
----------------
Gas prices here in Jamestown have suddenly soared about 12 cents a gallon in just a week. They were around $2.33-$2.37 just before New Year's and they're in the $2.45-$2.51 range this week. Since much of the economic "prosperity" of the last year was fueled by consumer spending, what happens when the consumers can't afford to spend much on anything but the necessities like housing, utilities, fuel, and food?
Your right to buy a military weapon without hindrance, delay or training cannot trump Daniel Barden’s right to see his eighth birthday. -- Jim Himes
Now there's something to be proud ofyet he is US senate
Those with little minds understand little things. The economy is to big for Chuckie to understand.
Let's use scare tactics as usuall for the left to make a good thing sound bad.
Prices went up! OMG! Prices do not go up if people are not spending cash. I'm certian most here understand supply and demand? I will not explain.
If you don't like the cost of things don't buy! Let see the leftist unions want raises but expect the cost of living to remain the same? The leftists want a minimum wage that will allow workers at that level to support a family of four. Yet want the cost of living to remain the same.
What a bunch of idiots. The economy will always right itself without interferance from the government. Yet look here at these leftists who want the government to step in and set price controls! Talk about a false economy! Good job Chuckie.
Soon we will see Bride of Chuckie, Hillary, spouting similar things.
Although maybe not she still may want to run for pres and can not be on the record agianst an economy that is doing well. If elected and her economy fails.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote